 Does protecting food safety in your operation feel like playing a game of whack-a-mole? Assessing common food safety problems and managing them in order of priority can help you avoid larger problems and unexpected expenses. That’s what Steritech found recently when it analyzed finding from more than 180,000 food safety assessments across restaurants, grocery and convenience locations. Operators face recurring hazards in these areas: cold-holding failures (coolers above safe temperature, broken thermometers, bad seals), expired or improperly date-marked food, and inventory mismanagement.
To avoid being overwhelmed, Steritech advises dividing actions into immediate, daily and longer-term priorities: Immediate: TCS foods held above 41°F should be quickly placed in an ice bath or discarded, and faulty coolers/refrigerators scheduled for repair. Remove expired or unmarked items and log/check labeling of remaining stock at each prep shift. Pull damaged racks or lids from service. Review allergen color-coding compliance. Demonstrate proper stacking and storage procedures for staff. Daily: Log cooler temperatures every four hours. Do a first-in, first-out inventory check to identify and pull soon-to-expire products. Wipe down cold-well pans during each shift. Before closing, verify that all corrective actions are completed and supported by monitoring logs. Record cooler and food temperatures twice daily. Reinforce practices with pre-shift reminders or team huddles. Longer-term: Schedule quarterly preventive maintenance for reach-in units, service coolers and other equipment. Replace aging gaskets as needed. During monthly manager walk-throughs, include cold holding benchmarks and review compliance. Automate expiry alerts in the inventory system. Audit procedures monthly and use trend data to update training. Provide quarterly refreshers on first-in-first-out, dating policies and storage practices.  The steps you take to maintain kitchen equipment can help you avoid staff injury, costly repairs and downtime, and unsanitary conditions in your operation. If there any areas of your business where you have delayed maintenance due to constraints in time or other resources, having an updated maintenance schedule and task list may help you prioritize critical items. First, draft a schedule outlining when key equipment needs to be cleaned and inspected based on its age and frequency of use. Then create a list of each piece of food preparation equipment in your operation, including everything from fryers and grease filters to ice machines and water filters. For each item, list the cleaning and maintenance tasks that must be completed and when, along with any special instructions needed. Then select dates for the completion of these tasks so you can track them — whether manually or through an online system that automatically alerts you to these tasks.
 Ongoing supply chain problems mean that replacing a piece of equipment or a needed part could easily take months. In the interest of both food safety and the safety of your employees, take stock of what you need to do to keep your key equipment running as it should. A study from NSF International found that 27 percent of quick-service operations switch off machinery because of a lack of expertise or time to get to the root of a problem, and 10 percent of quick-service managers admitted to skipping automatic cleaning cycles and ignoring error messages on equipment. Now is an important time to get to know how to best maintain your equipment and ensure your employees feel safe in promptly reporting when something isn’t working properly.
 At a time when energy prices are high and it’s more important than ever to make efficient use of labor and time in restaurants, your equipment needs to do its job well. When it comes to cleaning tableware, how well does your dishwasher do? Is it ever necessary to rewash items or polish them by hand? Depending on what kinds of new foods you’re bringing to the menu, you may need to make some changes. A recent Restaurant Business report says that beyond proper racking and scraping of tableware prior to loading in the dishwasher, you may need to consider new washing products that are designed to remove high-protein foods or other foods that call for tableware to be washed differently.
 Poorly maintained appliances aren’t just energy drains but also food safety hazards – and if you aren’t using up-to-date technology to monitor your equipment right now, ensure you are manually checking it daily for signs of malfunction. The walk-in cooler, for example, is among the top sources of food inspection violations. Monitor your cooler’s working order by confirming there is no difference between the temperature of the air in the cooler and the food being stored. Look for traces of mold and ensure the door closes securely. Check for the build-up of grease on the exhaust fan, as well as any water dripping from it, which can pose a food contamination risk.
 The freezer has been an increasingly critical tool for chefs in recent months, enabling them to continue to serve up meals to-go for immediate heating or later consumption. It will continue to play a key role in restaurant kitchens as operators look to manage fluctuations in customer demand in the months ahead and extend the use of seasonal produce as it becomes more readily available. To minimize deterioration in the quality of frozen food, make sure your staff handles to-be-frozen foods properly. FoodSafetyConnection advises using freezer bags or freezer paper for storing items, squeezing all air out of freezer bags prior to sealing, allowing hot food to cool prior to freezing, and labeling all frozen foods with the use-by date appropriate for the specific item.
 The coronavirus has brought new importance to the cleanliness of restaurant facilities – and you may well be cleaning surfaces more regularly now. Your POS equipment needs special care, since improper cleaning and disinfecting can cloud screens or damage other components. The National Restaurant Association advises following the manufacturer’s guidelines for all cleaning and disinfecting, but some general rules apply overall: Before cleaning equipment, make sure your hands are clean and dry. Use a clean microfiber cloth or soft towel – not soap – to clean visible marks on equipment. Don’t pour disinfecting liquids directly onto a POS surface; rather, use a solution that’s at least 60 percent alcohol on a soft towel or microfiber cloth, or use premoistened alcohol wipes.
 While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has addressed the need for good ventilation in its guidance about keeping indoor spaces safe from the coronavirus, overhauling ventilation systems isn’t typically at the top of the list of actions restaurant operators are taking to make their facilities safer right now. There are likely good reasons for that: For one, the challenging economic climate makes it difficult to fathom making a significant investment in an HVAC update. But what if there were more cost-effective ways to improve the air quality in your restaurant? Regular system inspections and maintenance, attention to cleaning products and protocols, and the reconfiguring of your kitchen and dining room can all help. This report from Modern Restaurant Management offers additional guidance (https://bit.ly/2DCTjSa).
 If you have invested in systems and sensors to monitor aspects of your restaurant’s food safety protocol, don’t let them give you a false sense of security. The technology is only helpful if it is used to support careful food safety practices already in use. As ComplianceMate advises, make sure you follow up on any inconsistent temperature readings. If your cold-holding equipment has a built-in display that conflicts with the readings from your new temperature sensors, for example, test the temperature with a third sensor to confirm the result. If you automatically trust the built-in reading, you may get an inaccurate result as the in-unit thermostats often fail before the equipment does – and placing trust in the sensors can cause you to overlook potential problems with the new equipment. #foodsafety
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